Phoenix Cops Nab 1,300 Fugitives With Special Warrant Task Force

All that talk of warrants last year spurred several agencies -- yes, even the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office -- to round up a few fugitives. About 70,000 felony and misdemeanor warrants could be served in the Phoenix metro area on any given day.

One of the most impressive efforts so far was announced yesterday by Phoenix police.

Under the leadership of Sergeant Bob Baker of the Phoenix Police Warrant Interdiction Unit, four detectives and six officers spent nine months looking for folks in the North Valley who had blown off court hearings and jumped bail.

The effort resulted in more than 1,300 suspects being booked into jail. The alleged crimes were all over the map, from identity theft to child molestation to shoplifting. Sure, there were only one or two homicide suspects nabbed. But lower-level crimes are "things that really affect everybody's daily life," says Sergeant Andy Hill, Phoenix police spokesman.

With that many yahoos off the street, city residents have a better quality of life.

Imagine if they got all 70,000. (There isn't enough jail space for that many people, but that's a different problem...)